Sembcorp Marine’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sembawang Shipyard has been awarded the Favoured Customer Contract (FCC) from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), USA, to provide ship-repair, revitalisation, upgrading and related marine services for its fleet of 41 cruise ships. Royal Caribbean is a global cruise vacation company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France.
This milestone long-term maintenance and refit contract with Royal Caribbean will further boost Singapore’s status as a major Asian cruise hub and reinforce Sembawang Shipyard’s reputation as one of the world’s leading shipyards in the highly specialised segment of cruise ships repair, refurbishment and conversion.
The contract, signed in Miami, Florida, USA, by Mr. Kevin Douglas, Vice President of Technical Projects and Newbuildings for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Mr. Svein Taklo, Vice President, Marine Operations for Royal Caribbean International, and Ms. Wong Lee- Lin, Executive Director, Sembawang Shipyard, commits the repairs, revitalisation and upgrading of its fleet of passenger ships cruising in the Singapore region to Sembawang Shipyard. It also commits to joint planning, information and experience sharing, thus leveraging complementary resources to achieve sustainable targets in the areas of HSE (Health, Safety and Environment), logistics management, quality, cost-efficiency and onschedule deliveries, which are key performance indicators for high quality cruise vessels maintenance.
Mr. Kevin Douglas, Vice President, Technical Projects and Newbuildings, Royal Caribbean Cruises said “The selection of Sembawang Shipyard as our partner in the Far East is in line with Royal Caribbean’s strategy to grow our cruise business in Asia as we see Asia, in particular, China and Singapore as our key markets. Sembawang Shipyard is recognized as one of the leading technically competent and efficient repair yards in the world for cruise vessels repair and upgrading. Our recent positive experiences with Sembawang Shipyard which included the successful revitalisation of Royal Caribbean International’s Rhapsody of the Seas, and our observation of the dedication and commitment shown by the Shipyard’s team, convinced Royal Caribbean that we have found the right long-term partner who understands the stringent requirements of our company. As such, we are confident that this newly forged partnership with Sembawang Shipyard will benefit both organisations in the planning and execution of our dry docking and revitalisation work in a safe, timely and cost effective way.”
Ms. Wong Lee-Lin, Executive Director of Sembawang Shipyard said “We are honoured to be the chosen partner of Royal Caribbean Cruises, a world-class cruise ship owner and operator. Sembawang Shipyard has over the recent few years, focused strongly on the development of our fast-growing niche markets, one of which is the cruise ship repairs/upgrades and conversion market. Since the 1970s, Sembawang has successfully repaired and upgraded more than 150 passenger ships. We have developed a “cruise ship culture” and a workforce with the right attitude, training and experience to successfully deliver cruise ships on schedule and to high Quality, Health, Environment and Safety standards. We have worked very well with the Royal Caribbean team on several ships and we are thus delighted with this award from Royal Caribbean. We thank Royal Caribbean for its confidence in Sembawang Shipyard’s ability to meet Royal Caribbean’s high standards. We look forward to a long-term partnership which will deliver visible mutual benefits and continuous improvements to both companies.”
Ms Neeta Lachmandas, Assistant Chief Executive, Business Development Group, Singapore Tourism Board said “We are pleased to learn of the partnership between Royal Caribbean Cruises and Sembawang Shipyard, which is a significant achievement for Singapore’s cruise industry. Establishments like Sembawang Shipyard play a key role in Singapore’s robust cruise industry eco-system, comprising world-class infrastructure and supporting industries such as ship repair, port and ground handling services. The partnership reinforces our position as the regional homeport of choice, and we look forward to welcoming more cruise vessels from Royal Caribbean Cruises to Asia and Singapore.”
The signing of this Favoured Customer Contract will include two cruise ships calling at Sembawang Shipyard for major revitalization and a third ship for drydocking and repairs between January 2013 to 2014 with total estimated sales ranging from S$50 million to S$70 million, depending on the scope of repairs and upgrading packages of the ships. The above contract is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of Sembcorp Marine for the year ending December 31, 2012.
